Paul’s View: Psychoanalysis or analysis of a psycho?

I will readily admit that I am not a trained, certified psychiatrist. I haven’t even played one on TV although I have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express not to mention my car insurance is with GEICO. However, when it comes to psychoanalyzing one Donald J. Trump, not that difficult a task. The only question, […]

I will readily admit that I am not a trained, certified psychiatrist. I haven’t even played one on TV although I have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express not to mention my car insurance is with GEICO. However, when it comes to psychoanalyzing one Donald J. Trump, not that difficult a task. The only question, really, is whether to use the term psychoanalysis or analysis of a psycho.

To quote Mitt Romney, something I never thought I would ever do, “Donald Trump is a fraud, a phony.”

That he is but now for the psychoanalysis:

A few weeks back at a campaign rally in Montana, Donald J. Trump or, as I refer to him, Comrade Trump, chose to mock the “Me Too” movement, disparage 94-year-old former President George H.W. Bush by mocking his 1000 points of light statement from 1989. Oh, by the way, Comrade Donald, if you are reading this, the reference to the 1,000 points of light referred to the brightness reflected by those who volunteer and put their time and effort ahead of profiting – and attacking Senator Elizabeth Warren and her Native American Indian heritage. Apparently, Comrade Trump fears Senator Warren as a potential opponent in 2020 and wants to start the personal attacks early.

These pompous and immature rants can just be added to the long list of the mocking and offensive remarks leveled by Trump against war hero John McCain or the gold star Khan family, or a disabled reporter, or the press as a whole, or Trump’s own intelligence community, or our NATO allies, or anyone who disagrees with him or doesn’t “say nice things about” him. What was that about “civility” Sarah Huckabee Sanders?

In the world of Trump, civility, like loyalty, is a one-way street in the direction of Trump only.

Now, many people have concluded that Trump simply lacks a filter between what serves as his brain and his mouth. This lack of a filter, they surmise, is why what comes out of his mouth is so rude, offensive and not very well thought out. This assumption, however, would be wrong, dead wrong.

Donald J. Trump does, indeed, have a filter between what serves as his brain and his mouth. He just chooses not to use it. Why you ask? The reason is quite simple. It is because he is totally convinced that saying whatever comes to mind, or the equivalent of a mind for him, without any inhibitions, to totally disregard simple propriety, to abandon anything approaching political correctness, is “COOL” and being “cool” plays to his base, especially at his mob rallies.

Well, he is partially right that saying the absolutely offensive, rude and demeaning things he says, especially to rile up his base at a campaign rally, almost definitely does seem “cool” to a base that is comprised primarily of racists, misogynists, xenophobes, and the easily brain washed. To the rest of society, both domestic and foreign, not so cool.

The problem, of course, is this: the one thing, more than anything else, that makes someone the exact opposite of “cool” is trying so hard to be cool. Steve McQueen was cool because it came natural. Steve McQueen did not try to be cool; if he had, he wouldn’t have been cool. Donald J. Trump trying so hard to be cool is pathetic and very, very uncool.

You know what else is uncool? Having to tell everyone how “smart” you are. Having to tell everyone how great you are. Having to tell everyone how your administration has done more in 18 months than any other administration in the history of this country. Having to boast about the size of your inauguration or any other blatantly false boast. Cool? Not even close. Insecure? Oh, yeah. Embarrassing? Absolutely.

You know what would be cool? As part of challenging Senator Warren to take a DNA test to prove her Native American Indian heritage, Comrade Trump offers to release his tax returns if she agrees. Putting one’s money where one’s mouth is, is always “cool.”

Of course, that will never happen. First of all, he will never reveal tax returns that will allow the voting public to follow the money trail of his ill-gotten gains. Secondly, the heritage of Senator Warren is of absolutely no importance. No one cares, no one. Trump is only using it as an excuse to attack a potential opponent regardless of the insignificance of the issue. His only mode is attack mode and that is because he is incapable of debating issues of substance which Senator Warren assuredly can regardless of whether you agree or disagree with her positions on issues of substance.

One last observation about his mental state. He has an unfounded and unrealistic confidence that he can foster a positive relationship with adversaries such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un by simply becoming their friend without extracting any specific and verifiable conditions or requirements. Although he described the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, more commonly known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, as the worst deal in history and from which he recently withdrew the United States without a factual basis, that agreement, negotiated over an extensive period of time and by several nations, included detailed and verifiable requirements, such as scheduled inspections by a recognized body of experts, that are sorely lacking in a simple handshake with a notorious dictator such as Jong-Un. This nation and the world would be well served to craft an agreement with North Korea that was as detailed and verifiable as was the Iran Nuclear Deal from which Trump walked away simply because it was signed by President Obama.

With regard to his now famous, or, rather infamous, joint press conference with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland and the backlash that ensued as a result of it, Trump attempted to explain away his acceptance of Putin’s denial of Russian meddling in the 2016 election by offering an explanation that he simply misspoke and mistakenly used the word “would” instead of the word “wouldn’t”. Granted, the words “would” and “wouldn’t” are very similar in terms of spelling; however, they are 180 degrees different in terms of meaning. They are the exact opposites. That leaves us with only two explanations for Trumps explanation which reveals a great deal about how his mind works. Either he is a compulsive liar, which has already been well established, or he simply misread a prepared statement without any understanding of the meaning behind what he was reading. Take your pick. Neither option is comforting in a president. Moreover, the options are not mutually exclusive.